Tyrol’s state parliament parties must now prepare for what will likely be snap state elections in the fall, after LH Günther Platter (ÖVP) announced his retirement. Most of them have already chosen their top candidates. However, it was not yet clear to all parties how they would hold new elections. ÖVP, SPÖ, FPÖ and NEOS have already spoken out in favor of it. The required two-thirds majority would therefore already have been achieved.
24 of the 36 mandates are required for a two-thirds majority. The four parties unite 30 MPs. It was still unclear whether the Greens would also agree to a new election request – a press conference was scheduled for Monday afternoon. List Fritz, however, disagreed. The elections were originally scheduled to take place in the spring of 2023.
Greens: “Ongoing internal conversations”
The coalition partner of the ÖVP, the Tyrolean Greens, did not want to make a statement to the ÖVP board on Monday and also kept quiet about the further course of events. An APA spokesperson said there were “ongoing internal conversations”.
Club president Gebi Mair, who was only named a top candidate for the state elections at a state meeting on Saturday, was “not surprised” by Platter’s step on Twitter on Sunday evening, urging stability. “Even if many processes with an unknown outcome take place in the ÖVP. I am currently discussing this with parties,” says Mair.
FPÖ “ready for early elections”
FPÖ chairman Markus Abwerzger was previously willing to provide information. He was chosen by his party as the top candidate for the state elections in April. The FPÖ is ready for snap elections, he assured the APA – “the sooner the better”, because he wanted a “short election campaign for the Tyroleans”. In view of the standstill in the black-green state government, the FPÖ has been calling for new elections “for a year”. The election campaign has been “going on for quite some time” and there is no more work anyway: “Nothing is rumbling anymore”.
SPÖ wants co-government after elections
New elections are needed to “create stability and clear conditions”, SPÖ state party chairman Georg Dornauer said after Platter and Mattle’s press conference. Therefore, a “corresponding re-election application of the ÖVP” will be approved. Dornauer reiterated once again that the SPÖ would like to participate in the government after the elections. “We are ready for Tyrol”, was his motto. He urged the introduction of a campaign cost cap of EUR 700,000 and an “absolute ban on donations”. The SPÖ wants to spend a maximum of 500,000 euros on the election campaign.
NEOS: ‘Government can no longer act’
NEOS club president Dominik Oberhofer was “little surprised” by Platter’s move. He saw the reason for the resignation of the head of state less in the private sphere, but rather in an “insane party financing scandal”. According to Oberhofer, the decisive factor was that ÖVP youth organizations had received about 860,000 euros from the Corona relief fund. Moreover, the government is now “no longer able to act”.
List Fritz against early elections
The Fritz list, which has two mandates in the state parliament, had no sympathy for new elections. “I do not understand why the population is being urged to hold new elections,” said party leader Andrea Haselwanter-Schneider of List Fritz. She is not available for “tactical party games when the ÖVP’s polls don’t fit.” It was still unclear who the party top candidate would be. Markus Sint was only appointed as club president in January.
Source: Krone
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